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21 Sep, 2013

Why are so many Westerners homeless in Thailand? – The Independent

Steve is homeless. The 59-year-old isn’t living rough on the streets of London or his home town of Manchester though. He’s sleeping rough thousands of miles away in Thailand. For most people, spending months on a Thai beach sounds too good to be true. But the dream has turned sour for some foreigners in this popular South-east Asian destination.

A growing number of Europeans and Americans are living homeless in alleyways and on white sandy beaches in tropical Thailand, say charities in the country, with foreign embassies accused of failing to help their own nationals when they get into trouble.

Steve, who declined to give his surname over fears that his long-expired visa could land him in jail, said he has spent two years sleeping rough on Jomtien Beach, a 90-minute drive from Bangkok. “I’ve gone 14 days without food before. I lived off just tea and coffee,” he told The Independent.

Read the rest: Why are so many Westerners homeless in Thailand? – Home News – UK – The Independent.